smith



(No Model.)

J. 0. SMITH.

DETAGHABLB TABLE LEG No. 271,143. Patented Ja.11.23,1883.

LFLgi. I

' which are designed UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES 0. SMITH, ()F JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO GEORGE B. FORD, OF SAME PLACE.

DETACHABLE TABLE-LEG.

SPEOIFICATiON forming part of Letters Patent No. 271,143, dated January 23, 1883.

' Application filed August 25, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES O.SM1TH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jamestown, in the county of Chautauqua and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Detachable Table-Legs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of devices to render the legs of tables and other articles of furniture removable, in order to reduce the space occupied by said articles, and thereby reduce the cost of their transportation; and my invention consists in certain featureshereinafter described, and specifically set forth in the claim.

Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in sec tion, of a head-block and leg constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2, a perspective of the upper end of the leg, and Fig. 3 a bottom plan of the head-block and portions of the side rails thereto attached.

Like letters indicate like parts in all of the figures.

A represents the head-block of the leg as usually constructed, and it constitutes in the completed article a corner post or block of the framework, the side and end rails being mortised or otherwise attached thereto in any well-known manner. A cylindrical chamber, a, is formed in the head-block, of a size adapted to somewhat snugly fit a. dowel, b, formed on the upper end of the leg proper, B, which is provided with a shoulder, b, at the base of the dowel. The upper end of the dowel is provided with a diagonal groove, [2 in its periphery, which communicates with a plane surface or cutaway, Z2 as clearly shown in Fig. 2. Within the chamber a is a bar, a, located a distance from the mouth of the chamber or base of thehead-block equal to or slightly greater than the distance from the shoulder b to the upper surface of the groove 1) near its lower end, said bar being disposed in a slanting direction and at one side of the center and near the wall of the chamber, and its ends are held in the body of the head-block and finished flush with the outer surfaces thereof, as clearly indicated in Fig. 3. A metallic ferrule, a is inserted into the lower face of the head-block to strengthen the same. This being the construction of the several parts, they are united in the following manner: The dowel is introduced into the chamber with the cutaway portion or surface b so presented that it passes beyond or above the bar a, and the leg is turned to the right, which causes the diagonal groove to embrace the bar, and, both being inclined, a continuance of the turning of the leg draws its shoulder 12 firmly against the base of the head-block, and the dowel b fitting the chamber snugly the parts are firmly bound together, and may be secured in this condition by a small screw, 0, passing through the head-block and into the dowel. A reversal of the above operation separates the leg from the head-block and enables the shipper to pack the article in much less space than is possible when the legs and head-blocks are integral.

By making the diagonally-grooved cut-away dowel integral with the leg'a firmer joint is secured, and there are no screw-threadsformed in the wood to eventually wear out, and as the groove b is comparatively deep and-extends only a portion of the distance around the dowel it is not weakened thereby, and as the groove is required to sustain only the weight of the leg proper, all other strains being sustained by the snugly-fitting body portion of the dowel and by the shoulder 11, there is afforded ainple strength and solidity at the joint by means ofsimple,cheaply-constructed, and readily-applied devices.

I am aware that the upper end of tablelegs and of other parts of furniture has been provided with an independent bolt or screw, formed with a slotted head, having inclined surfaces to bear against a pin projecting in the interior of the cylindrical mortise of a post; but their construction dili'ers materially from mine, and I do not claim any bolt secured to the upper end of table-legs.

Having described my invention and its operation, what I claimas new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- V The combination of a table-frame cornerblock, A, provided with a chamber in the under side thereof, a slanted transversepin therein, and an endless ring-ferrule surrounding said chamber, with a tableleg having a diagonally-grooved dowel integral therewith, adapted to engage with the transverse pin, and a retaining-screw passing through the cornerblock and entering said dowel, substantially as and for the purpose described.

Witnesses: JAMES 0. SMITH.

JAMEs I. FOWLER, JAMES GILBERDs. 

